Paper output mechanism for paper feeding apparatus

ABSTRACT

A paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder, including: a seat; a connecting shaft, passed through the seat; and a paper feeding roller, placed around the connecting shaft, and including: a shaft portion; a roller portion, placed around the shaft portion; and adapted to convey a document, and an elastic element, placed around the shaft portion, and one end thereof being connected to the seat.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)on Patent Application No(s). 98119846 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Jun.12, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a paper output mechanism, and moreparticularly to a paper output mechanism for an automatic documentfeeder (ADF).

BACKGROUND

Accompanying the progress of technology, business machines correspondingto computer peripherals such as printers, scanners, facsimile machinescan help increase the efficiency by which information is processed,which has made them increasingly popular. Furthermore, accompanying thetechnological development of one machine with multiple function, moreand more business machines have multiple functions such as facsimile,scanning, photo-offset and printing; not only ensuring that the businessmachines have the ability to process multiple documents, but alsoallowing their volume to be reduced. In addition, the assemblyprocedures thereof are simple (involving connecting them with atelephone line, a network cable and power cord), and they can also beused in coordination with a computer, which has contributed to theirpopularity.

A comprehensive survey of business machines such as printers,photocopiers, scanners and facsimile machines, demonstrates that theyall can be installed with an automatic document feeder (ADF) capable offeeding paper one page at a time. Please refer to FIG. 1, whichillustrates a conventional paper output structure for an automaticdocument feeder, at least constituted by a paper feeding roller A1,rotating shaft A2, copper sleeve A3, spring A4, cover A5 and mountingbracket A6, where the paper feeding roller A1 is placed around therotating shaft A2, the copper sleeve A3 is installed on the side of thepaper feeding roller A1, the spring A4 is placed around the coppersleeve A3, and the assembly of the paper output structure is finallycompleted by installing a work piece made from the aforementionedassembly steps in the mounting bracket A6 after the cover A5 is coveredon the spring A4.

However, components of the conventional paper output structure for anautomatic document feeder are complicated; not only is the cost ofindividually manufactured components manufactured higher, but atolerance between each two components must be considered while they arebeing assembled. In addition, the assembly's operation is difficult andtedious.

SUMMARY

To improve a paper output structure for an automatic document feeder,reduce the number of components thereof, and ensure that the componentand assembly costs of the paper output structure are reduced, thepresent invention is proposed.

A paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder proposed bythe present invention includes: a seat; a connecting shaft, passedthrough the seat; and a paper feeding roller, placed around theconnecting shaft and including: a shaft portion: a roller portion,placed around the shaft portion and adapted to convey documents; and anelastic element, placed around the shaft portion, one end thereof beingconnected with the seat.

The present invention also proposes a paper output mechanism for anautomatic document feeder, including: a seat; and a paper feedingroller, engaged with the seat and including: a connecting shaft, passedthrough the seat and including a shaft portion; a roller portion, placedaround the shaft portion and adapted to convey documents; and an elasticelement, placed around the shaft portion and one end thereof beingconnected with the seat.

The seat includes a positioning hole, and one end of the elastic elementis engaged with the positioning hole to position the elastic element andthe seat.

Furthermore, the shaft portion includes a first shaft and a second shaftconnected to each other, where the roller portion is placed around thefirst shaft and the elastic element is placed around the second shaft.Moreover, one end of the elastic element is propped against the firstshaft. In addition, the outer diameter of the first shaft is greaterthan the outer diameter of the second shaft.

The present invention places the paper feeding roller around theconnecting shaft or integrates the paper feeding roller with theconnecting shaft into one body. One end of the elastic element is thenpositioned directly on the paper feeding roller, and another end thereofis connected directly to the seat. When compared with the conventionalpaper output structure, not only is the structure of the presentinvention very simple, but both the product cost of the components andthe assembly cost can also be reduced substantially.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional paper out structure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematically perspective view of the first embodimentaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is cross sectional view of the first embodiment according to thepresent invention while a document is being output;

FIG. 5 is a schematically exploded view of a second preferred embodimentaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematically prospective view of the second embodimentaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show a paper outputmechanism for an automatic document feeder of a preferred embodimentaccording to the present invention.

A paper output mechanism 1 for an automatic document feeder includes aseat 11, a connecting shaft 12, a paper feeding roller 14 and an elasticelement 16.

The seat 11 is approximately a hollow accepting body, the bottom thereofis a curved plate, the two sides thereof are respectively extended witha side wall face 111, and an accepting hole 112 is disposed on each sidewall face 111 and a positioning hole 113 is disposed on one of the twoside wall faces 111.

The connecting shaft 12 is approximately a long-strip-shaped rod, thetwo ends thereof are respectively passed through the accepting holes 112of the seat 11, where an chamfer cut 121 may preferably be disposed onthe connecting shaft 12 in the longitudinal direction thereof, the crosssectional face of the connecting shaft 12 is approximately semicircularfrom side viewing. Furthermore, the chamfer cut 121 of the connectingshaft 12 is engaged with the wall face of the accepting hole 112,allowing the connecting shaft 12 to be accepted in the accepting hole112 and be impossible to be rotated. However, the aforementionedstructure of the connecting shaft 12 is only an example and it is notlimited to this, according to the present invention.

The paper feeding roller 14 is placed around the connecting shaft 12. Inthe present embodiment, the paper feeding roller 14 mainly constitutes ashaft portion 141 and roller portion 142, where the roller portion 142may be made from a rubber material or plastic material, placed aroundthe shaft portion 141 and adapted to convey documents 8. In addition,the shaft portion 141 is preferably constituted by a first shaft 1411and a second shaft 1412 connected to each other, where the rollerportion 142 is placed around the first shaft 1411, and the outerdiameter of the first shaft 1411 is preferably greater than the outerdiameter of the second shaft 1412. However, the aforementioned structureof the paper feeding roller 14 is only an example and it is not limitedto this, according to the present invention.

The elastic element 16 is placed around the shaft portion 141 of thepaper feeding roller 14, and one end thereof is engaged with thepositioning hole 113 of the seat 11 to position the elastic element 16and the seat 11, where the elastic element 16 may preferably be placedaround the second shaft 1412 of the shaft portion 141, and another endof the elastic element 16 not engaged with the positioning hole 113 ispropped against the first shaft 1411.

Please refer to FIG. 4. The paper feeding roller would be rotated with atransmission wheel 6 if no document 8 is passed when the transmissionwheel 6 is rotated; only the transmission wheel 6 would drive thedocument 8 to move forward due to a greater friction force of thetransmission wheel 6 when the document 8 is passed. The transmissionwheel 6 would drive only the uppermost document 8 to move forward andthe other documents would be blocked by the paper feeding roller 14 andprevented from moving if more than one document 8 are passed.

In the present embodiment, the paper feeding roller 14 is placed aroundthe connecting shaft 12, and one end of the elastic element 16 ispositioned directly on the paper feeding roller 14 together with anotherend thereof is connected directly to the seat 11 so that the numberthereof is less than the number of the conventional paper outputstructure, and the production cost and assembly costs can be effectivelydecreased.

Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 6, FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrates a paper feedingmechanism for an automatic document feeder of a second preferredembodiment according to the present invention. The difference betweenthe present invention and the first embodiment is the structure of thepaper feeding roller 14. In the present embodiment, the paper feedingroller 14 mainly constitutes a connecting shaft 144 and a roller portion142, where the connecting shaft 144 is a long-strip-shaped rod, thecross sectional face of the connecting shaft 144 is approximatelysemicircular from side viewing, and the two ends of the connecting shaft144 are respectively accepted in the accepting holes 112 of the seat 11.Furthermore, the connecting shaft 144 has a shaft portion constituted bya first shaft 1441 and a second shaft 1442 connected to each other,where the roller portion 142 is placed around the second shaft 1442, andone end of the elastic element 16 is engaged with the positioning hole113 and another end thereof is propped against the first shaft 1441,where the outer diameter of the first shaft 1441 may preferably begreater than the outer diameter of the second shaft 1442.

The greatest difference between the present embodiment and the firstembodiment is that the connecting shaft and the paper feeding roller ofthe first embodiment respectively are two independent components, butthe connecting shaft and the paper feeding roller of the presentembodiment are integrated to form one single component such that thenumber of the components thereof is less than that of the firstembodiment. In addition, the connecting shaft of the first embodimenthas a chamfer cut so that the chamfer cut of the connecting shaft isengaged with the wall face of the accepting hole, ensuring that theconnecting shaft is not rotated while the paper feeding roller isrotated; the paper feeding roller of the present embodiment isconfigured with the structure of the connecting shaft so that theconnecting shaft structure thereof will be rotated with the rollerportion of the paper feeding roller.

The present invention may place the paper feeding roller around theconnecting shaft, or integrate the paper feeding roller with theconnecting shaft into one body. In addition, the elastic element isplaced around the paper feeding roller, and one end thereof ispositioned directly on the paper feeding roller and another end thereofis connected directly to the seat. In contrast with the conventionalpaper output structure, the present invention need not be configuredwith components such as a copper sleeve and cover. Accordingly, thestructure of the present invention is simpler than the conventionalpaper output structure, and the number of the components thereof is alsoless than that of the conventional structure, resulting in substantialreduction of component production cost and the assembly cost of thepaper output mechanism. Furthermore an assembly flow can simplified, andreducing the number of components can also effectively increase theefficiency and the yield of an assembly operation.

While the present invention has been described by the way of example andin terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary,it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements.Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded thebroadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications andsimilar arrangements.

1. A paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder,comprising: a seat; a connecting shaft, passed through the seat; and apaper feeding roller, placed around the connecting shaft, andcomprising: a roller portion, a shaft portion, comprising a first shaftand a second shaft connected to the first shaft and protruding from aside face of the first shaft, wherein a length of the first shaft islonger than a length of the roller portion, and the roller portion isplaced around the first shaft, and an elastic element, placed around thesecond shaft and located outside of the first shaft, and one end thereofbeing connected to the seat, and the other end propped against the firstshaft.
 2. The paper output mechanism for the automatic document feederaccording to claim 1, wherein the seat comprises a positioning hole, andone end of the elastic element is engaged with the positioning hole toposition the elastic element and the seat.
 3. The paper output mechanismfor the automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the seatcomprises an accepting hole, adapted to accept the connecting shaft. 4.The paper output mechanism for the automatic document feeder accordingto claim 3, wherein the connecting shaft comprises a chamfer cut,adapted to engage with a wall face of the accepting hole.
 5. The paperoutput mechanism for the automatic document feeder according to claim 1,wherein an outer diameter of the first shaft is greater than an outerdiameter of the second shaft.
 6. A paper output mechanism for anautomatic document feeder, comprising: a seat; and a paper feedingroller, engaged with the seat, and comprising: a roller portion; aconnecting shaft, passed through the seat, comprising a first shaft anda second shaft connected to the first shaft and protruding from a sideface of the first shaft, wherein a length of the first shaft is longerthan a length of the roller portion, and the roller portion is placedaround the first shaft; and an elastic element, placed around the secondshaft and located outside the first shaft, and one end thereof beingconnected to the seat, and the other end propped against the firstshaft.
 7. The paper output mechanism for the automatic document feederaccording to claim 6, wherein the seat comprises a positioning hole, andone end of the elastic element is engaged with the positioning hole toposition the elastic element and the seat.
 8. The paper output mechanismfor the automatic document feeder according to claim 6, wherein the seatcomprises an accepting hole, adapted to accept the connecting shaft. 9.The paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder according toclaim 6, wherein an outer diameter of the first shaft is greater than anouter diameter of the second shaft.